Pages

6.15.2011

Seating Charts... Yes or No?

Many brides ask me if they need a seating chart + it truly does depend on what type of reception you are planning. To sum up the answers, I found a fabulous article from Offbeat Bride that I wanted to share with you.

The benefits of a seating chart:

You can ensure that everyone’s dinner companions share common interests. It is simply good event planning to arrange for guests in this situation to sit with people they either already know and like, or are likely to get along with, so they’ll be more likely to sustain engaging dinner conversation. It is true that people will get up and mingle before and after the meal; what you are planning here is mealtime socializing.

You can make single guests, or guests who don’t know others, more comfortable. This also somewhat alleviates the need for +1s: we had a few single guests who knew only one or two other people at the wedding. By seating them at tables with the few guests they knew as well as others they didn’t know, but with whom we felt they shared common interests, we could safely invite them without +1s.

You can work around the “standard table size” problem to guarantee that people who will want to sit together can do so. Imagine you and your significant other mingled a little too long at cocktail hour while others were sitting. You enter the dinner area, realize that there is no seating chart, look for a table and don’t find one. Every available seat is a single, and nobody seems inclined to move. Finding people to move for you requires complicated cross-table negotiation.

It’s like a blind date for your loved ones! I love “setting up” my friends with my other friends (not in the romantic way, although that has also happened).

It manages drama. Usually. Do you really want your Socialist-leaning lesbian academic friend who just got back from Peace Corps and volunteers for the “Rent is Too Damn High” party to end up sitting with your Libertarian uncle who likes hunting and tells kids to get off his lawn? Probably not. If, however, that’s the only open seat your friend can find –- well, that’ll just be a box of giggles, won’t it?

Why you might not need a seating chart:

Your reception does not include a sit-down meal. If you are having a cocktail reception, tea, cake and punch, dessert, picnic-style or other party format, then there is no reason to have a seating chart. These formats are flexible enough that people can more freely move around.

Your reception is very small and not in a typical reception hall. If you’re having your reception at a restaurant with ten or twenty people, there is no need to assign seats.

You have various tables and seating options of different sizes. If your venue has a mix of large tables, small four-seaters, couches with coffee tables, bartops and other more lounge-like options, you can safely skip the seat assignments.

If your wedding is on the small side and everyone genuinely knows each other (and their relationships are mostly drama-free).

If you don't create a seating chart:

Provide more seating than is necessary. Exact ass-to-chair ratios can make it hard for couples to find seats together. Extra seats can alleviate that issue.

Try to vary your seating options and table sizes if possible.

Consider a reception that doesn't include a full meal. This is not mandatory, simply advised. It opens up mingling and reduces the time when people need to stay in one place.

Try to introduce people who don’t know other guests around before the wedding. This way, they will be able to seek out familiar faces later, or consider a cocktail hour that will allow them to meet and chat with potential table mates.

Consider allowing single guests to bring +1s.

If you do create a seating chart:

Avoid the dreaded Singles Table. Varying it a bit helps the social experience.

Create “Interest Groups” to keep people together. For example: “older family and friends who like guns,” “travelers and expats,” “young hippies,” “old hippies and academics,” “overachieving young professionals,” “raunchy friends and relatives.” It worked beautifully.

Create “Groups of Tables.” It’s okay if people who are friends don’t get to sit together — the best way to encourage mingling before and after dinner is to seat them at tables near each other.

Don’t assign exact seats, just assign tables. This gives people flexibility even within the structure you create. Of course, this assumes round tables. For family-style events, having a seating chart means assigned seats.

Be prepared to make last-minute changes. Even if nobody crashes the party, someone will get sick or have a sudden emergency and be unable to attend. Have some back-up seating cards and be ready for some last-minute re-arranging.

Listen to suggestions, but don’t let anyone try to dictate seating to you. Go ahead and hear your Mom or Grandma out on her seating chart ideas, but make the final decision yourself and own it. If necessary, don’t share the final chart with them and do not engage in discussions about it after it’s finished.

This may seem like a lot to consider. Just remember: all you need to do is reflect on what kind of party you are having, what the venue is like, who your guests are and apply these general guidelines to determine of a seating chart is, for you, a useful tool or an exercise in futility.